How to Negotiate with Clients Over Your Fees

3 strategies to help you get paid what you’re worth

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You’ve found a potential client who wants to hire you. But, they say they can’t afford your rates, what do you do?

Remember that you are a business. Any agreement with a client is a business relationship. That means you need to know how to negotiate. If you’ve never been a business owner before, or if you are conflict-averse, negotiating can feel scary and overwhelming.

Relax. Negotiations don’t need to be tense. You are a professional service provider. The client needs your services. You have the upper hand when it comes to negotiating. You need to enter into negotiations with confidence. Desperate people make bad deals.

Here are three strategies you can use when your client tells you they can’t afford you.

Shrink the Scope of the Work

If your potential client can’t afford your rates, you can offer to do less work. There are several ways to approach this.

You can ask the prospect what their budget is. Often, they have no problem sharing that information with you. You can then decide what value you can bring at the price they can afford.